Another London Autumn (Week 1)

Yes, here I am back in London, a mere five months since my last visit. During this visit, I'm staying in Tufnell Park as my usual gaff in Belsize Park was already booked. It's been six years since I was last in Tufnell Park -- it seems more bustling than it did in 2019 and there are some new shops and caffs to explore

I got off to a bit of a rocky start, arriving on Friday morning with only one hour of sleep on the plane coming across the pond from America. Storm Amy was lashing Ireland and the British Isles with rain and wind, and we had a late departure from Dublin and very bumpy landing at Heathrow. I reached Tufnell Park around noon to drop off my bags and then kill three hours until I could officially check in to the AirBnB. In my mind's eye, I would arrive on a nice autumn day and spend a lovely afternoon walking on the Heath or Waterlow Park and Highgate, but that plan was scuppered by Storm Amy. Instead, I wandered up and down the Holloway Road, picking up things I needed from Boots and doing some grocery shopping. To cheer myself up, I bought a cup of Forgotten Ends at Waitrose (the price has risen by 50p since May!), which I ate at the counter along the front window, looking out at the rain on the Holloway Road. 

My AirBnB is a loft (attic) studio flat in a family home on a Edwardian terrace street. The flat is clean, bright and airy (the bed is amazing!) and is stocked with the basics needed to live and cook here for a month. However, over the first few days, it seemed that every time I went to look for something I needed -- a saucepan large enough to cook pasta, a bowl large enough for soup or pasta, a roll of paper towels, napkins and placemats, a pot holder (oven glove), dust pan and brush to sweep up crumbs, a tea tidy, a box of Kleenex, cling film, a book to read, and most importantly a water filter jug to deal with the lime scale in the water -- these items were not to be found. The host kindly and quickly provided me with napkins, placemats, an oven mitt and a new squeegee for the shower (the old one was worn out). Being the resourceful thrifter that I am, and having very little frustration tolerance when it comes to my basic comfort and tidiness, I made a list and a plan to get the other things as quickly as possible. By Tuesday, I'd ticked off nearly everything on the list. Read on for details.

I awoke on Saturday morning to find that Storm Amy had moved on, leaving only puddles and fallen leaves behind. I started the day with a brisk walk up to the Parliament Hill Fields Farmers' Market, where I always love to pick up some favourite things to eat. The walk is a bit longer than from the flat in Belsize Park, but still under a half hour. I bought my a loaf of excellent raisin and walnut bread, some olive bread sticks and corn fritters. 

After scurrying back to my gaff to dump my purchases, I headed out to take in some of the free walks on offer from London Local Guiding Day. These hourly walks, organized annually by several of the local walking guide associations, are a way for newly-qualified guides to gain experience taking punters out on the streets. My first stop was at Farringdon Station for a walk in Clerkenwell, led by an excellent Islington guide named Minerva. Although I know Clerkenwell pretty well, I saw and learned several new things. We began the walk near the Smithfield meat market and I saw this:

Having an hour between this walk and then next one that I'd be doing in Camden, I had a quick lunch at a caff and then went back to Farringdon Station to buy a new Oyster card (to replace my 20-year-old "first generation" one that's incompatible with the TfL Go app) and to have it linked to my brand new senior railcard. A lovely member of staff helped me with the buying and the linking. I'll now get 1/3 discount on all my off-peak tube journeys and on bus journeys at any time, using PAYG on my Oyster Card. My daily cap will be £5.90 rather than £7.90. (In past years, I'd purchased a one-month travel card and loaded that onto my Oyster Card; it allowed me to travel any time of day in zones 1-2.) I'll be interested in seeing how much I save over the course of this visit. 

Pushing on to Tottenham Court Road, I rocked up right on time for a walk around St Giles and bits of Covent Garden with Chris Foster, one of the seasoned Camden guides. It was the last tour of the day, and they seemed to have exhausted the rooky guides. Chris is a former Bobbie on the beat in this area and knows it well. This walk, like others I've done with him, was full of wit and his personal recollections of the area. On the way back to TCR station, we walked down Denmark Street (London's tin pan alley):

I had just enough time to scurry down to St Martin-in-the-Fields to see a photo exhibition of Pearlie kings and queens in the crypt. It was the final hour of the final day of the exhibition and I wanted to have a butcher's. Lovely photos, followed by use of a lovely loo. 

My first mission on Sunday was to trudge back over to Parliament Hill for the weekly Bootyful car boot sale (like a flea market in America). I scored a 10-11" saucepan (£4) and a soup/salad bowl (£1). 

Again, back to my gaff to drop off the purchases and have some lunch, then out the door to catch the two buses that would take me over to Belsize Park. After feeling lonely, unhappy and adrift since my arrival, it was so, so nice to be back in Belsize Park and to see the lovely couple who have been my hosts for four years there. Together, we went on the spring Belsize Society history walk, this one about post-war reconstruction and regeneration of the area. I was a guest of the Belsize Society (host Chris is on the committee) at the members' tea and cake social after the walk.

We then walked back to Lambolle Road where I picked up my yoga mat, bundle of clothing, and my new Art Pass. Loaded up with two carrier bags, I returned by bus to Tufnell Park, feeling much better for the warm company and tea, and glad to now have my charity shop puffer jacket as I'm sure I'll be needing it. 

Ah, the Monday challenge. With many of the smaller museums and galleries closed on Mondays, the dilemma is always whether or not to venture to one of the major museums and face the crowds. That's what I did, first to the National Gallery to see Millet: Life on the Land, a very small (free) exhibition of some of Millet's paintings of rural common folk, sowing seeds, reaping grain, chopping wood and tending geese. 

I also wandered around a bit and found Room 44 containing some very nice post-impressionist paintings. 

Fortified by my packed lunch (hummus and pita, as always), I headed next door to the National Portrait Gallery to see the annual portrait award exhibition. Although I'm not too keen on people, preferring architecture and abstraction any day, I do always enjoy the seeing the portrait award entries (all paintings, no photography). This year's group was a very good one. 

I stuffed my gob with a warm, freshly-baked pastel de nata in Covent Garden, had a quick look round the antiques market, and got on a bus to Kentish Town, where I knew there were a slew of charity shops. Armed with my list of needs, I went into two or three of them as well as Poundland (like a dollar store). The very first shop I went into had EXACTLY what I wanted -- a wee Mikasa tea tidy just like the one in my Belsize Park gaff -- for the excellent price of one pound fifty. In other shops I scored cling film, a dustpan/brush combo, two boxes of Kleenex and a small plastic bin to hold my toiletries in a dry spot in the wet room as my things don't fit on the basin and they get soaked there when I use the shower (I should have brought a hanging toiletry bag with me). 

The first thing I had done on Monday morning was to get on the Argos website and order a filtered water jug. It would be ready for pick-up on Tuesday at the Argos in the Holloway Road, where I would be later in the afternoon. My morning destination was the Wellcome Collection in the Euston Road for their latest exhibition Thirst, all about the search for fresh water, draught, floods, collera, etc. I always like checking out their free exhibitions (generally about some sort of intersection between art, medicine and/or science), browsing their bookshop and using the nice loos. 

In the afternoon, I did a guided walk about Art Deco Holloway with my friend Jane Parker, a fantastic guide who has lived in that area for thirty years, knows a ton about London history and Art Deco architecture, and has a keen eye for design and detail. Covering a relatively small area of territory, we saw a wide array of buildings and learned that "Art Deco" is really an umbrella term, covering a range of dates and styles. 

On to Argos to pick up my water filter pitcher and to Waitrose for a few more food items, then to my gaff for a quick bite to eat. In the evening, I met up again with Jane at the UCL Grant Museum of Zoology for an event (two talks and a glass of wine) connected with their newly-opened exhibition World of Wasps. I went in thinking "Wasps -- what are they good for?" and remembering a sting on the cheek I once received from a vicious hornet. I came away knowing that they are pollinators (perhaps even better than bees) and predators who keep down the populations of more malicious insects. 

Wednesday started with a proper cup of tea, tasting as it should and devoid of lime scum thanks to my filter jug. I can now start my days in a much better mood. My plan of activities didn't start off so well, however. I took the overground (now called the Mildmay Line) to Finchley Road & Frognal and walked across the road to the Camden Arts Centre. After a quick look around the gift and book shop, I was headed toward the galleries upstairs when woman behind me called up to me to tell me that the galleries were closed. I must have written down the opening day of the exhibition, or they changed it since I had added it to my spreadsheet. I was a day early. 

Plan B quickly put into action. I walked along familiar streets up to Hampstead and saw a fine, small exhibition of landscapes, as well as more of the permanent collection that rotates through the galleries, at Burgh House. Although the day was grey and gloomy, the occasional mist never turned to rain. I walked to Hampstead Heath Station to get back on the Mildmay line to Kilburn and the short walk to the Kiln Theatre. I had an OAP ticket for the matinee performance of Reunion, an Irish play that's part drama part comedy, as I imagine any work about an Irish family would be. The ensemble cast of ten was very good and the play entertaining. 

I made it back to Tufnell Park just in time to pick up the Surprise Bag I'd ordered with the Too Good to Go app from a tiny, bougie green grocer a block from my gaff. For £2.33 I got three oranges, two limes, two small lettuces, four or five potatoes and an aubergine (that's eggplant if you're American). The limes looked a little past their prime, but everything else was fresh with plenty of days of life left. I'm trying to figure out how I can microwave an aubergine. 

Thursday was a VERY full day, starting at the Barbican Library where I saw Blondie in Camera, a photo exhibition by Martyn Goddard of the band in NYC in 1978. I totally forgot to pop into the Barbican Launderette, which is frozen in time with machines dating from the 70s. I'll plan to circle back later in the month, especially as I'm no longer afraid of getting lost at the Barbican.

As I walked eastward towards Smithfield, I passed a red phone box turned into a Little Free Library in Charterhouse Square where I took a P.D. James novel that's in good nick. Finally, I have something to read in the evening (my AirBnB doesn't have a single book or even a London guide other than a paper map). I had a good look around the Museum of the Order of St John (hadn't been to the museum for nearly two decades and found that it's been revamped very nicely) prior to a short talk in the museum about coffee in honor of International Coffee Day. St John's Gate had been used as a coffee house owned by Wm Hogarth's father, so there was a good tie-in. 

Next I walked southward, stopping at Superdrug in High Holborn to buy some arnica cream, to the Strand, where I caught the bus to Tate Britain for the most-anticipated exhibition of this visit: a huge retrospective of Lee Miller. It did not disappoint. With something like 250 photos on view, some of which have never been seen, the exhibition is arranged in chronological order covering her early years as a model, work with Man Ray, fashion photography, surrealism, photo journalism in Britain during the war and in Europe during its aftermath, concluding with more intimate portraits of her artist friends. I thoroughly enjoyed it and my back didn't give out for a moment. 

I had been joined by my friends David and Janie for the exhibition. Afterwards, we stopped at a pub in Pimlico near to a bus stop for me and on the way towards Victoria Station where they were headed. A pint of Doom Bar and a packet of crisps gave me strength to push on to my next destination.

The bus ride to Stanfords (the famous map book shop in Covent Garden) should have taken about 30 minutes but ended up being an hour spent in horrific traffic with diversions. I rocked up at Stanfords just as Matt Brown was beginning the talk for his book launch of The Boroughs of London. With maps and illustrations by Mike Hall, the book covers the 32 boroughs plus the City of London, including history, facts, and ten key sites for each. It's a hefty tome and looks lovely, but too big for me to haul back to America in my carry-on so I'll have to order it once I'm home. 

Friday saw me mostly in Bloomsbury with a little of Hoborn thrown in. In the morning I went to the British Museum, where I'd scored a free ticket for the exhibition Ancient India: Living Traditions. It was about the representation and iconography of Buddhism, Jainism and Hinduism -- lots of sculpted deities. I know absolutely nothing about these three religions, so it was a good overview for me but I don't think I caught the nuances. 

After eating my packed lunch in Bloomsbury Square (I think I've now eaten in every square in Bloomsbury) I walked briskly down Holborn to the Shoe Lane Library near St Andrew's Church, Holborn. I was there for a free talk entitled The Art and Scandalous Lives of the Bloomsbury Group, all about Vanessa Bell, Roger Fry and Duncan Grant, their friends and lovers. I still can't keep straight who was married to or involved with whom, but some of their complicated love lives are clearer to me now. According to Dorothy Parker, the Bloomsbury Group "lived in squares, painted in circles and loved in triangles". It's all very complicated.

I hoofed it back north to Bloomsbury to do a whistle-stop tour of small venues, starting with the Charles Dickens Museum. I'd hoped to see the recently-acquired, long-lost portrait of Dickens painted by Margaret Gillies in 1843. It had gone missing in 1866 and didn't resurface until 2017 in a mixed-lot box at an auction in South Africa. After authentication and conservation by the Philip Mould Gallery (he's the art ponce on Fake or Fortune), it was purchased by the Dickens Museum. They had it on public display this past summer, but now it's gone back into conservation. The docent told me to call ahead or pop in next time I'm in London to see if it has gone back on display. Since I was at the museum, I had a look at the current exhibition, which is "Showtime". It's a rather naff display of playbills and movie photos from Dickens works that have been on stage or screen. 

Many of the local galleries are participating in gallery walks as part of Frieze. Friday was Bloomsbury's day, so I went round to two of them. First up was The Perimeter in one of the mewses that run behind the Dickens Museum. The current exhibition of mixed media -- hand-painted signs, photographs, prints and some strange audio/video -- by Christopher Williams. I liked several of the large-format photos but the gallery itself left me cold. 

Then I moved on to the October Gallery, one of my favourites that I always try to visit when I'm in London. They represent El Anatsui and have an exhibition of his wooden sculptures called "Go Back and Pick" on right now. I've liked his work for many years, but primarily know him through his reused metal pieces. I initially thought these wooden works were all new, and indeed the first few I saw were, but the second room contained wood pieces from a decade or two earlier. It was interesting to see his progression with wood, and I thought the recent works were particularly powerful. Like the metal works, these wooden ones can be rearranged and hung in different configurations, which I find intriguing. This is a two-venue exhibition, so I shall have to make a plan to see the other half. 

Finally, I made a brief stop at the Calthorpe Community Garden in Greys Inn Road to have a look at a new sculpture called Black Mary's Pleasure Garden, depicting a woman of African ancestry who owned and ran a healing well or spa in this area during the 17th century. The stone sculpture is created by carver Marcia Bennett-Male, the only Black woman stone carver in the UK. 

On Saturday morning, I was out of the flat early to walk up, up, up to Highgate Cemetery for the much antipated London Month of the Dead event featuring a tour of the mausolea of Highgate Cemetery. Wow! This was totally worth getting up at stupid o'clock back in July or August to be online when Month of the Dead booking opened, enduring multiple website crashes before managing to score a ticket. I checked back an hour and a half after booking, and all the tix for this event were gone, so I was extremely lucky to score one. The tour exceeded my expectations. Ian Dungavell, the executive director of the Friends of Highgate Cemetery, who now own and maintain the vast graveyard, took us around for two hours, clutching a ziplock bag full of keys, letting us see the inside of eight or more private family mausolea, most of which are in the West Cemetery with two in the East Cemetery. I learned the difference between a tomb (a stone enclosure placed over an in-ground or above-ground burial plot), at catacomb (a series of vaults, something akin to terrace houses for the dead), and a mausoleum (which I now think of as a stone garden shed for caskets, which are placed either above or below ground in special chambers but not actually in the earth). Many of the mausolea are pretty darned nice on the outside -- some designed by architects of high regard and made of fine quality stone. Inside they are fascinating. We saw beautiful tile floors, ceilings and domes, lovely carved memorials and sculptures, sarcophagi, and even a wee stone box containing the remains of the family pets. With deep knowledge of architecture, Victorian and Edwardian history, the family stories of those interred here, wit and warmth, Ian was an amazing guide. This was easily one of the best tours I've ever done.

Although the day started out overcast and chilly, by noon-ish the sun was beginning to emerge and the temps were rising. I hurried over to the Parliament Hill Farmers' Market to get a loaf of raisin and nut bread before the market closed and hustled back to the flat to drop off my purchase, have a spot of lunch and plan my next move. My friend Ronnie Hackston, a very good artist, had posted on Facebook that he was taking part in the Tooting and Furzedown artists' open house and gallery trail, so I hopped on the tube and headed down to Tooting Broadway (uncharted territory -- Clapham Common was the furthest south on the Northern Line I'd ever been). I was totally taken with the Furzedown area. The Edwardian terrace cottages are utterly charming! An uphill walk from Tooting Broadway took me to the space in a community centre where Ronnie and two other artists had set up their work. I loved seeing their paintings and prints and talking to them about the pieces. Ronnie made me a cuppa, let me have a sit-down and then walked me to the next gallery along the trail, where he introduced me to an artist friend. More lovely chatting before I moved on to two artists homes (I adored these houses!!) to see prints, painting and pottery. No big purchases as I'm traveling in the world's smallest carry-on bag, but a fine day out in the sunshine. 

Today is Sunday. I've done my laundry, taken the rubbish and recycling out to the bins, and tidied up the studio flat. After banging out this post, I went out for my sole activity of the day, a guided walk with Oonagh Gay around Bloomsbury called Rebels and Blue Stockings: The New Women in Bloomsbury, all about higher education for women starting in the 19th century. As a graduate of Smith College (the largest women's college in America) and having worked for many years at Mount Holyoke College (the oldest continuously-operating women's college in the world), I was very interested in hearing about the UK trajectory for women seeking post-secondary education at universities including Bedford College (the first women's college in the UK), Slade College of Art, Birkbeck, UCL, etc. We learned how women gained entry into basteons of male education, initially being allowed to attend courses but not to get degrees, to establishing their own halls of residence and ultimately obtaining equal access to all levels of education in medicine, art, engineering, etc. 

I'm now back in the loft and looking back on the week. For much of it, I felt a bit lonely and at sea, and was thinking that my efforts to secure the things I needed were taking up too much of my time and keeping me from my culture vulture persuits. But in retrospect, I see I managed to work a ton of activities into my calendar. I've now got what I need for the flat and have sorted out some administrative tangles (purchasing my new Oyster card and then getting it linked to my TfL account, which necessitated a totally pleasant phone call to customer support). Next week I'll need to find a bank (or visit one I know in Hampstead or Swiss Cottage) to withdraw a bit of cash and I'd like to go to the Belsize Community Library to apply for a library card and borrow a book or two. Since my Tufnell Park hosts are consumed with family life and either too busy or not interested in conversing with me, I'm learning to combat loneliness by chatting up random people on buses, in museums and as I go on guided walks. People have been really lovely to me in every interaction. So, I'm feeling less like the little princess sent to live in the garett, have settled into my role as the lodger who passes through the hallway and up the stairs, and am seeking out friends and strangers when I need company. Let's see what unfolds in the coming week. 

Stats:

Friday:
€3.90 tea in Dublin airport
£20 top up Oyster card
£10 top up phone plan
£3.48 Boots
£15.66 groceries
13,747 steps
5.64 miles

Saturday:
£60 new Oyster card (£10 of this is the deposit)
£10.70 farmers' market
£14.68 other groceries and wine
£6.60 haloumi croque

Two guided walks - free
22,540 steps
9.29 miles

Sunday:
£1 car boot sale entry
£5 car boot purchases
£1.29 plastic container for bathroom
50p lemon

Belsize guided walk - free
18,330 steps
7.54 miles

Monday:
£3.15 pastel de nata
£4.75 charity shops & Poundland purchases for flat
£3.80 groceries
Exhibitions at NG and NPG - free
15,113 steps
6.21 miles

Tuesday:

£13 water filter jug
£2.95 Forgotten Ends
£18 Holloway Art Deco walk
£5.63 groceries
£4.80 World of Wasps event

Wellcome Collection exhibition - free
21,384 steps
8.79 miles

Wednesday:
£20 Reunion at Kiln Theatre
£3.95 banana bread
£2.33 Too Good to Go surprise bag
£15.70 wine and groceries
14,032 steps
5.76 miles

Thursday:
£6.18 Superdrug
£3.55 groceries
£10 Lee Miller exhibition (with Art Pass)
£8 book launch
Barbican photo exhibition - free

Museum of the Order of St John - free
18,349 steps
7.54 miles

Friday:
£9.35 groceries
Exhibition at British Museum - free
Talk at Shoe Lane Library - free
Charles Dickens Museum - free with Art Pass
Galleries - free
19,962 steps
8.24 miles

Saturday:
£22 Highgate mausolea tour
£5.70 farmers' market
£2.90 groceries
£10 cards at art fair
22,208 steps
9.11 miles

Sunday:
£17.50 women's history walk
£2.50 cookie
13,735 steps
5.63 miles